Seeing the world around us in COLOR and postings inspirations found in the details of design.

04/20/2011

They are SO big. Do you fill them with dirt? Oh so heavy.. Do you use plastic peanuts in the bottom? They get very soggy... Do you put a plastic pot inside the terra cotta or ceramic planter? Not a great look...

It's been a "garden problem" for years!

Problem solved. Go on over to Ups-a-Daisy. Mine arrived today, Wednesday after placing my order on Sunday. No extra charge, just fast service! You might also find them at your local garden center; I wasn't able to so ordered on line.

It's an insert. It sits about half way down the pot (measure carefully)...meaning that you then only need to fill the top half (about) of your pot.

Problem solved!

Next up: we have Corian counter tops with the one-piece, molded sinks. It's something I've wanted for years: no seams, no metal pieces, clean looking etc. Only problem is that, for some reason, glasses break very easily! We never had this issue with stainless steel. In addition, the sink slants, every so slightly, toward the center so any glass, especially a wine glass, falls right over on its side.

02/07/2011

Back in September I told you about this stunning, just plain neat, knife block from Bodum:

This was in my post on the BHV in Paris: yes, I was green with envy and wanted one of these for my new kitchen!

Ok, so, I forgot about it for a few months...until last week when I saw this:

Oh no.... ! I have to have it. I use a cordless electric tea kettle maybe...um...six times a day. We have a white one: great quality, has lasted for at least five years with no problems yadayadayada. But I want this one!

07/06/2010

I have had one of these mylar calendars for many, many years. They come with a pen to ruin it to write on it, but I like to keep it clean and pristine. I must look up at it at least five times a day.

Flat files, cutting board and scanner. I have HUGE flat files in my house but now that we no longer paint (much) they store wrapping paper, rugs and who knows what else. However, these smaller size files are perfect.

Scanner. I have gone from a LARGE scanner bed (17" x 24"!) down to this 8 1/2" x 14" and it works just fine. Again, we just don't paint anything that large these days...This Canon does a really nice job.

My tripod. What a cutie!

Camera case and ....what do you call it?...put the camera memory card in here, plug into the usb port, and you're set to import.

My 24" Mac desktop. I am in love with it!

Remote keyboard. Wacom pad with pen: I use this instead of a mouse, always...

A must have: cordless phone AND head piece!

Art table: this is the very first one I ever had; it will be with me always!

Cute chair from a display at Surtex, several years ago:

Magazines, books and more:

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I even had room for a small loveseat...(over)filled with my pillows from Homefires

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Studio would not be complete without my tea accessories!

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and last, but not least, my mirror. Made and painted in Deruta, Italy.

Finished packing my file drawers today. Some of these things will come home with me, temporarily, and some will be in storage until the BIG move this fall. So now I'm working from my studio at home. It, too, is a wonderful space; much smaller but very bright and sunny. I'll show you that eventually!

06/07/2010

But I just don't get it. I have an iPhone and I do love it...very much. I have a desktop Mac with a big 24" screen. And just this winter I got a MacBook. Goodbye to Windows.

Who are these people putting down $499 for an iPad? Are they already Mac users? Do they carry the iPad around, like a laptop? Or is it replacing their iPhone?

I had not actually seen and touched one until yesterday...I know, I've been very remiss in keeping up to date with this technology! But it just didn't interest me. At all. And you know what? After seeing and touching one, I am STILL not interested. My biggest problem, with the actual mechanics of it, is HOW do you type on one? It's too big to hold in one hand and type with the other (as in iPhone), and yet, it's too small to hold still and type comfortably as in laptop keyboard. I don't get it...sorry!

Go to "A Multitasker's Perspective" video, right in the center of the screen: it follows Kord Campbell's eye movement from a camera on his forehead. Scary. I got dizzy just looking at it....and yet... isn't that what I do too? Granted, I only have one monitor, but I'm constantly switching programs, looking up to the right at Twitter feeds, searching the web, going back to Photoshop etc. etc.

Really, it's a good article: take a look. and let me know what YOU think.

04/11/2010

Shopping bags have become a fashion item...in case you hadn't noticed! From the very expensive designer bags to the lowly (but so useful) grocery chain bags: there is a time and a place, and a price point, for any kind of bag you seek.

Some of these are made from all recycled products, and some are for YOUR recycled products. One of my favorite new finds, in the "lets use recycled products" category is atwestend.com. I love these bags to hold your bottles, papers etc.:

Another great source for all sizes, shapes and patterns for grocery totes is Neela Bags. With prints like these, they hardly look like grocery bags, and I can attest to their holding up beautifully for over four years now...

And for the serious shopper.... how about a trolley? These are very popular in Europe and just beginning to be used over here (maybe they just weren't chic enough?) mainly in cities. Here's one we just spied yesterday at TJMaxx:

03/21/2010

Shelf: "A flat tablet or ledgeof any material set horizontally at a distance from the floor, to hold objects of use or ornament"

Given the definition of "shelf", perhaps these can't really be called "book shelves"..

No, this is not really a "trend", but these ARE trendy shelves, or "book holders" or "wall organizers", or whatever you want to call them. Gone are the days of a simple shelf on the wall: you know, the kind with brackets that never seemed too steady and sort of moved from side to side if you put anything too heavy on the shelf. And, of course, there was often just the shelf: no ends of any kind so no, you couldn't really put books on them anyway! These new shelves are just plain cool... and fun, and colorful, and they work!

Then there are what I call "floor shelves". These are trendy, hip, fun, made of all sorts of new materials and hold so much more than books.

And, of course, with your shelves it helps to have some Book Ends:

Here's a contemporary look:

This I love! Now, what exactly WAS this space before shelves and bed? A closet, maybe? Very clever use of space. It's all in the details, remember?

And this: how fun! A secret hide-away filled with books! But, look closely, and you see stairs inside...going where?

And, how to make use of the space over a door:

You might also want to take a look at RoomRemix-The Blog for PK's post on "Accessorizing Shelves/Bookcases": you will find some great ideas and photos of bookcases and storage!